Bizarre Swine Flu Strikes West

Hint: Florida's not the place to be during flu season

(NEWSER) - Think spring is around the corner and the end to sneezing and sick ickyness is in sight? Think again, because there's lots of flu left to pass around. The Daily Beast runs down the 20 sickest cities, as broken down by health ranking, vaccination coverage, influenza deaths, and how much flu activity remains between now and May.

1. Dayton, Ohio—140 deaths per 100,000 people of influenza or pneumonia
2. Tampa—about 5% of its flu activity remains

Drug is successfully tested on humans for the first time

(NEWSER) - Soon, you may be able to forget about getting a flu shot each year—because just one jab could cover you for all strains of the illness. Oxford University scientists tested a universal flu vaccine on humans for the first time, and found it to be successful, the Guardian reports. The vaccine works by targeting proteins inside the virus—which are common across the known strains—rather than those on the external part of the virus, which often mutate and require new formulas of the flu shot to be created each year. More»

Watchdogs accuse WHO of colluding with drugmakers

(NEWSER) - Was the H1N1 pandemic exaggerated? European officials are putting heat on the WHO over its handling of the pandemic, alleging the organization caused unnecessary panic and wasted millions of dollars. Reports released by an EU watchdog and the British Medical Journal go even further: they accuse the WHO of being influenced by drugmakers who stood to profit from unnecessary influenza preparation, the Washington Post reports. More»

Total lower than usual, but victims skew younger

(NEWSER) - The H1N1 pandemic has been less deadly than a normal flu season, but the infection has claimed the lives of far younger victims, the CDC announced today. The outbreak killed 17,000 Americans, far less than the 36,000 who die during an average flu season. But in a normal flu season, 90% of victims are elderly. This time, the reverse was true; Between 880 and 1,800 of those killed in the outbreak were children, and up to 13,000 more were adults under the age of 65. More»

US is 'not at all out of the woods,' CDC chief says

(NEWSER) - H1N1 continues to spread, albeit at a subdued pace. The chances of a third outbreak this season seem slight, but even though swine flu is not mounting a major offensive, it seems unusually resilient—most influenza outbreaks would've dissipated by now. Deaths from pneumonia and influenza are up, for the third week, but it is impossible to know what percentage of that is from H1N1. More»